[Fertionbratte]

Im sure we've all had times when we were fascinated by extreme affluence. Whenever I hear a story about Gates or Buffet donating a couple of million to some charity, I always wonder: What percentage of your entire wealth do you actually give to philanthropy?
Recently, there was an article on Carlos Slim Helu, who had become the worlds second richest man mostly through telecommunications based in Mexico. He also owned 13% of MCI but sold it to Verizon.
One of my main goals is to own property. My family had never owned property and always lived under a landlord paying rent. But the world holds limitless possibilites. Currently there are 9 million millionaires and 1000 billionaires on Earth. Now 1 billion dollars is equal to 1000 million dollars.

According to this chart, most of America lives within the Working Class and the Lower Middle Class.


Percent of households with six figure incomes and individuals with incomes in the top 10%, exceeding $77,500.


This graph shows the income of the given percentiles from 1967 to 2003, in 2003 dollars.


With variations in the use of different reference groups come various definitions of the term affluent. Comparisons regarding affluence in the United States are often, but not always, conducted using the "Average Joe/Jane" as a reference group. While the economic fortunes of nearly all Americans, 99.9%, are dwarfed and seem nearly non-existent when compared to those on in the top 0.1%, the median household and personal income levels do serve as one of the most common reference points. (Notice the huge gap between 60k and 100k+)


Breakdowns of individuals and households with incomes exceeding $60,000


The wide income discrepancies within the top 1.5% of households.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_figure_income
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_upper_class

Mexico's Slim Bumps Buffett as World's 2nd-Richest, Forbes Says

By Emily Brown
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu displaced U.S. investor Warren Buffett as the world's second-richest man in March after almost doubling his personal fortune in 14 months, according to the Forbes magazine Web site.
As of yesterday, Slim, 67, is worth $53.1 billion, compared with Buffett's $52.4 billion; Buffett had held the position for seven years, the magazine said. Microsoft Corp.'s Bill Gates is first, at $56 billion, and has been for 13 years, Forbes said.
Slim gained $23 billion as the Mexican stock market jumped 49 percent in 2006, Forbes said. Slim's Carso Global Telecom SA, which controls Mexico's Telmex telephone utility, has gained 15 percent over two months. His biggest holding, wireless provider America Movil SA, rose 4 percent after talks on buying a stake in Olimpia SpA, which controls Telecom Italia SpA, Forbes said.
Slim recently dismissed his U.S. peers' charitable donations as ``going around like Santa Claus,'' Forbes said. Buffett has pledged to donate 10 million Class B shares, valued at $30.7 billion, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable contribution in history, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=a6QT4Ej3a2k8

To be continued

[BartRonalds]

The middle class is the elite in post-industrial western society. CEOs and particuarly politicians are usually middle class.

[Dastyh]

If CEOs and politicians are middle class, then who fits in the upper class? Wouldnt CEOs and politicians be generally categorized as upper class? And how is the middle class the elite?

[kjsdiuwe]

The middle class is the elite in post-industrial western society. CEOs and particuarly politicians are usually middle class. He's nuts. Maybe that's the way in England? He can't be talking about the U.S.

[derisgun]

Perhaps you're right. The upper class in the UK is tiny and is pretty much just landowners - as in country estates. Class isn't just about wealth - I would consider Bill and Hiliary Clinton to be middle class and also a politician like Barack Obama just as Tony Blair is in Britain.

[adsexpist]

Ben, in the U.S. we pretend we don't have born class - we focus on wealth and earning power. I think there's a lot of unexamined class politics in our culture.

$62,500 is not upper middle class in NYC. To me, upper middle class status means you can buy a home, and that's not enough.

[mArVHDO6]

Bill and Hill are definitely upper class.

[tomspoumn]

$62,500-$100k/ year is upper middle class. Anything over that would be considered upper class. But what about the millionaires? The millionaires make up the "elite", the upper upper class. Bill and Hilary are in the upper upper class for sure. Remember Bills book deal? He recieved $12 million in advanced without royalties! That dude is made

[Lypepuddyu]

1

$62,500-$100k/ year is upper middle class. Anything over that would be considered upper class. But what about the millionaires? The millionaires make up the "elite", the upper upper class. Bill and Hilary are in the upper upper class for sure. Remember Bills book deal? He recieved $12 million in advanced without royalties! That dude is made

In New York anything under 100k is considered lower middle class. Over 100 is middle class in New York City. Over 150 is upper middle class. over 250k is well off.

[Cyzkrahu]

Ben, in the U.S. we pretend we don't have born class - we focus on wealth and earning power. I think there's a lot of unexamined class politics in our culture.

But surely 50 Cent wouldn't be upper class?

[SergeyLisin]

This year ^^^ Yes.

Once the records stop selling ... No.

(see: Rick James or MC Hammer)

[Creva4k]

From the bottom looking up it probably all looks the same.

[whatisthebluepill]

"It should be stressed... that a position does not bring power and prestige because it draws a high income. Rather, it draws a high income because it is functionally important and the available personnel is for one reason or another scarce. It is therefore superficial and erroneous to regard high income as the cause of a man's power and prestige, just as it is erroneous to think that a man's fever is the cause of his disease... The economic source of power and prestige is not income primarily, but the ownership of capital goods (including patents, good will, and professional reputation). Such ownership should be distinguished from the possession of consumers' goods, which is an index rather than a cause of social standing." -Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, Principles of Stratification.

"If... money and wealth [alone] determine class ranking... a cocaine dealer, a lottery winner, a rock star, and a member of the Rockefeller family-are all on the same rung of the social latter... [yet most] Americans would be unwilling to accord equal rank to a lottery winner or rock star and a member of one of America's most distinguished families... wealth is not the only factor that determines a person's rank." - William Thompson, Joseph Hickey; Society in Focus, 2005

[deackatera]

But surely 50 Cent wouldn't be upper class?

The guy has NO class! They always say the rich get richer and poor poorer but the graph shows the poor staying the same? The rich earn their money in a completely different way, poor income is stable but wealth can fluctuate massive depending on many factors.

[homerdienru]

"If... money and wealth [alone] determine class ranking... a cocaine dealer, a lottery winner, a rock star, and a member of the Rockefeller family-are all on the same rung of the social latter... [yet most] Americans would be unwilling to accord equal rank to a lottery winner or rock star and a member of one of America's most distinguished families... wealth is not the only factor that determines a person's rank." - William Thompson, Joseph Hickey; Society in Focus, 2005

This is so obvious, it hardly needs to be stated. If you deny it, then "class" and "wealth" are synonymous, and there's no need for both words.

[Matajic]

You mention class and wealth, but lets not forget good breeding! Background counts,

[bWxNFI3c]

You mention class and wealth, but lets not forget good breeding! Background counts,

Why does this sound so f***in racist??

[Rinkeliacasse]

Anyone who's spent as much time around upper class people as I have will tell you that "breeding" is almost as easily purchased as a pair of socks; it just costs a lot more.


Oh, and the 'class' dividers look really, really skewed to the downside. Someone making 100K (in little old USD) is NOT upper class in a developed country.

[QWNPdpr5]

Why does this sound so f***in racist??

where are you coming from my friend???

[kaysions]

The guy has NO class! They always say the rich get richer and poor poorer but the graph shows the poor staying the same? The rich earn their money in a completely different way, poor income is stable but wealth can fluctuate massive depending on many factors.

what does class has to do with wealth??